Instinct
by setlib
Summary: Hei is ordered to get information out of Misaki using any means necessary. Misaki begins to suspect that Lee might be the Black Reaper. Both decide to uncover the truth, using seduction as their method of interrogation. Can love grow among so many lies?
1. Chapter 1: Secrets

**Title: **Instinct  
**Author: **setlib  
**Rating:** Mature  
**Pairings:** Misaki x Hei  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to any characters from Darker than BLACK.  
**Timeline:** Starts after episode 21, City Under Crackdown Moist with Tears, Part 1.

**Summary**: Hei is ordered to get information out of Misaki using any means necessary. Misaki begins to suspect that Lee might be the Black Reaper. Both decide to uncover the truth, using seduction as their method of interrogation. Can love grow among so many lies?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Instinct, Chapter One: Secrets**

"I'm not leaving him." Hei looked directly at Huang, disregarding his protests. "I'm not going to let Evening Primrose keep Mao a prisoner."

"That's what a contractor would do," Huang warned. He tossed his cigar to the gravel and ground it under his foot, shaking his head in disgust. "Take the logical path. Look out for yourself. No sense taking the risk just to rescue someone else. Mao's gone."

"No." The playground where they were meeting was empty this late at night, but Hei kept his voice quiet, controlled, with an edge as hard as the steel blades he carried. "If you don't want to help me, fine. I'll do it myself."

"I'll help you," Yin stated softly from her usual position at the top of the slide.

"Have you found him, Yin?" Hei turned around to look at her but, as always, the doll's blind eyes stared unfocused into the distance. She might not be able to see, but her ability to send her specter out through water to locate people had been crucial to many of their operations.

"I've already tried. He's not near water."

Hei's hands clenched involuntarily and he took a slow breath, relaxing his grip. He couldn't let the others know how frustrated he felt. He couldn't show them any emotion at all. He was supposed to be a contractor – ruthless, selfish, cold. The fact that he was actually human was a secret he had guarded carefully these past five years. He had kept his feelings concealed, his face like a mask, for so long that he was beginning to wonder if he could even remember anymore what it had been like to live. To laugh. To love.

Huang cleared his throat gruffly. "There might be a way. The Syndicate has a new mission for you. They want you to track down the headquarters of Evening Primrose."

Hei kept the hope off his face, out of his voice. "How?"

"Apparently November 11 met with someone right before he defected from British Intelligence and joined up with Evening Primrose. They want you to find out what was said during this meeting, in case it will give us a clue to EPR's location."

Hei nodded. "So I trail the person he met with, search them. Interrogate them if necessary."

"I'm not sure interrogation will work this time," Huang said, laughing dryly.

"Why not? Who is it? Another contractor?"

"Worse. Police Chief Misaki Kirihara." The old man's laughing turned into a hacking cough.

_Old fool_, Hei thought. _One day those cigars will kill him_.

"Kirihara won't be a problem," Hei said, but he wasn't so sure. She had met him several times while he was pretending to be his cover, affable Chinese exchange student Lee Shenshun. She had also nearly cornered him as his alter ego, the masked Black Reaper. She was clever, he knew, and one slip from him was all it would take for her to make the connection between his two identities.

"Don't get cocky," Huang warned. "Her apartment will have state-of-the-art security."

"A few hours ago I infiltrated and bombed the American Embassy," Hei reminded him wryly. "Kirihara's security doesn't worry me. What _does_ worry me is how I'm going to get her to tell me location of Evening Primrose. She thinks Lee doesn't even know that contractors exist."

Huang smiled coldly. "There's one sure way to loosen her lips. Seduce her."

Shock rippled through Hei at the suggestion, but he clenched his teeth to keep it from showing. When he spoke, his voice was level. "She thinks Lee's a young college student. She wouldn't fall for someone like him."

"And I never thought I'd fall for a beautiful young woman," Huang spit out bitterly. "Who'd ever look at me with this ugly mug? But I sure fell hard for Shihoko, hook, line, and sinker."

"She really did love you," Hei said quietly.

"Eventually. But at first I was just a job to her. Right now, Kirihara's just a job to you. Get the information you need from her. Use any means necessary. That's by order of the Syndicate." Huang grabbed his newspaper and stood, walking stiffly to his car.

Hei sat silently, thinking about Huang's advice. If he thought of Kirihara as just a job, then sure, it was easy to know what to do. Attach a tracking device to her car, set up cameras and microphones in her apartment, observe her every move. If that didn't work, then approach her. Stage some sort of casual meeting and lie to her. Tell her anything she wanted to hear to get answers from her, like he did with Chiaki. Or tie her up and use harsher interrogation tactics, like he did with Havoc. The Black Reaper would do whatever was necessary to get the information from her, just like he would with any other target.

But Captain Kirihara wasn't like anyone else. Not Kirihara, _Misaki_, he thought, rolling her given name around in his mind. He'd never addressed her so informally in real life. Whenever she met Lee, he always treated her with the utmost respect and deference. But there were nights when he imagined walking up to her, calling her by name, watching her eyes widen in surprise at his boldness. How would she feel, he wondered, if she discovered that the young man she had befriended by day was also the assassin she hunted by night? Would she be horrified? Disgusted? Intrigued?

What would he be willing to risk to find out?


	2. Chapter 2: Fantasies

**Title: **Instinct  
**Author: **setlib  
**Rating:** Mature. Seriously. This chapter is not for kids, please.  
**Pairings:** Misaki x Hei  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to any characters from Darker than BLACK.  
**Timeline:** Starts after episode 21, City Under Crackdown Moist with Tears, Part 1.

**Summary**: Hei is ordered to get information out of Misaki using any means necessary. Misaki begins to suspect that Lee might be the Black Reaper. Both decide to uncover the truth, using seduction as their method of interrogation. Can love grow among so many lies?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Instinct, Chapter Two: Fantasies**

Misaki Kirihara locked the door behind her and threw her briefcase and keys on the hallway table. She stalked through her apartment, seething, cursing under her breath. She still couldn't believe the nerve of PANDORA, interfering with her investigation, actually thinking they had the authority to arrest her. Her! The Chief of Police! She ran a hand through her hair, remembering the feel of the cold metal gun pressing her head against the concrete floor. As if that wasn't bad enough, they even handcuffed her! Like a common criminal! It had taken hours for her to get released, without so much as an apology.

She yanked open the refrigerator door, thinking something fried and greasy might help calm her down, but of course the fridge was empty as always. She was never home, so she didn't bother keeping much food around, she just ate out instead. She slammed the door shut in disgust and turned to look around her apartment. It might as well have been a hotel room, she thought crossly, stylish and attractive but without any personal touches. She'd let her friend Kanami hire a decorator to furnish the place, with the stipulation that any plants had to be fake because she wasn't around enough to water them. On her twenty-fifth birthday Kanami had bought her a fish, insisting she needed something to bring out her nurturing, feminine side. The poor thing had been dead within two weeks, and now she had a strict no-pet policy as well.

She headed into her bedroom and grabbed her workout clothes, hoping that some exercise would help get rid of her frustration. She changed quickly in the bathroom then turned the TV to a local news channel. Pulling some papers out of her briefcase, she set them on the stand in front of her treadmill and programmed it for a three mile run. She grabbed an old bag of stale rice cakes out of the kitchen and then, pulling her long hair back into a ponytail, she hopped on the treadmill and started with a pounding gait. She ran automatically, barely noticing as the machine changed speed and grade while she reviewed her notes from work, watched the news, and snacked on her crackers. If multitasking was an art form, she thought, then she was a master.

A half hour later she hopped off, sweaty and breathless, and took a quick shower. She hated pajamas, opting instead for the soft blue cotton camisole and matching underwear Kanami had bought her for another birthday. She shut off everything in the living room, gathered her papers and settled herself on her bed to get a little more work done before she went to sleep. She spread the documents out in front of her and put her glasses back on, frowning as she tried to see a pattern in the information before her. November 11 told her that Evening Primrose had an operative inside the American Embassy. Someone trusted, who had possibly kidnapped Dr. Schraeder and had used the building to hide him. She scanned the personnel files from the embassy, looking for any details that would stand out and reveal which employee was really a contractor. She checked, and re-checked, but saw nothing particularly suspicious.

With a groan of frustration, she pushed the papers off to the side, putting her glasses on the bedside table and switching off her lamp. She flopped down on her pillow, pulled up her blankets, and stared at her ceiling, wide awake. Her bedroom had sliding doors that opened onto a small balcony, and she liked to keep the drapes open. She didn't get the flash of headlights from the street, since her apartment was up on the fifteenth floor. But the gray city lights illuminated her room, even at night. She watched the pattern of the lights flickering above her and willed herself to relax. As the minutes ticked by, she slid a glance at her clock. _Damn!_ She would have to get up in less than five hours. At this rate she would hardly get any rest at all!

There was one sure way to relax enough to go to sleep. She pushed her covers off and slid her right hand down her stomach, between her thighs, and inside her panties. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the sensation of her cold fingers sliding against her warm flesh, finding a rhythm she liked and stroking steadily. But every time she started to let go enough to enjoy herself, questions and problems from work would flash through her head. Suddenly she saw Saito's face in her mind, following her like an eager little puppy, and her fingers stilled. That was the last thing she wanted to see at this moment. November 11's face slid into her mind as well but she pushed his image away, too upset about what had happened today to want to think about him.

She searched for someone she could picture to repel the constant intrusion of her work into even this intimate area of her life. "Lee," she whispered, her fingers moving slowly again. He was cute, and sweet. She would never admit to Kanami in a million years that she had ever thought of him in _that_ way, but as she focused on his gentle smile, his shaggy black hair hanging into his eyes, she could no longer deny that she was attracted to him.

Misaki moaned and arched her back, finally starting to lose herself to the mounting sensations. Suddenly Lee's image wavered in her mind and another figure replaced him. Now it was the Black Reaper she could see, standing between her legs in his long coat, white mask reflecting the dim light. She gasped with excitement, her pleasure spiking sharply before the rational part of her brain could try to push the image away.

He stepped forward and she could feel the rough texture of his coat, still wet with dew from the night air, slide between her thighs. His weapons harness pressed painfully into her tender flesh until his gloved hands gripped her knees and spread her legs wide. Her breath became uneven, her hips moving in entreaty, and she imagined it was his hands that pulled her camisole down, his fingers that plucked at her nipples until she could feel the desire shoot straight through to her core. His fingers, large and gloved and rough, that reached down to stroke her faster and faster, right where she needed them.

Just as she felt her pleasure crest, he reached up and pulled off his mask. Shaggy black hair hung over familiar eyes, his gentle face rigid with passion. "Lee!" she screamed, gripping the sheets as her hips bucked with the force of her climax. She rode the wave as long as she could before sinking, breathless, back against her bed. She pulled her sheets up tiredly and closed her heavy eyes, rolling on her side. She wasn't going to think about why the most wanted contractor in Japan had popped into her head at such an embarrassing moment, or why her mind had given him Lee's face. She wasn't going to try to figure out who had aroused her more, her enemy or her friend. As exhaustion pulled her into a deep sleep, only one thought followed her: if he felt this good in her imagination, how good would he feel in real life?


	3. Chapter 3: Threats

**Title: **Instinct  
**Author: **setlib  
**Rating:** Mature  
**Pairings:** Misaki x Hei  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to any characters from Darker than BLACK.  
**Timeline:** Runs concurrently with episode 22, City Under Crackdown Moist with Tears, Part 2.

**Summary**: Hei is ordered to get information out of Misaki using any means necessary. Misaki begins to suspect that Lee might be the Black Reaper. Both decide to uncover the truth, using seduction as their method of interrogation. Can love grow among so many lies?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Instinct, Chapter Three: Threats**

Hei wanted to crush something. Rip something apart. Find some violent means of discharging this wild energy, to prevent him from storming into Misaki's apartment and burying himself savagely between her legs. He'd done far too good a job planting his hidden cameras in her apartment and had watched, unable to tear his gaze away, as she teased and stroked and moaned, then finally screamed his name. Like a siren's call, the urge to respond was overwhelming.

He glanced back at the monitors, his gaze tracing the lines of her hips and shoulders as she lay sleeping. He took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to get his emotions back under control. He had a job to do. Every minute he wasted left Mao in jeopardy. This was no time to allow his human side to get the upper hand.

He walked to the window of the empty apartment he was using as his base of operations, pulling open the drapes to look outside. From this angle he could see the small patio outside Misaki's bedroom. It was directly across the street and two floors down from this apartment. He swept up his black coat, put on his mask, and picked up his crossbow. Sliding open the window, he raised the weapon calmly and fired into the wooden balcony just above Misaki's apartment. The bolt caught, stretching a thin wire across the street, fifteen stories high. He secured the other end and then hooked the cable to his belt, stepping smoothly out of the window and sliding, whisper-quiet, along the wire. Seconds later he dropped to the patio and gazed through the glass at Misaki's form, curled up unsuspectingly on her bed.

One hand on the latch to the patio door, he released a quick surge of electricity to overload the electronic security system. In a heartbeat he was in her room, approaching her bed, clenching his fists against the urge to reach out and stroke her long, damp hair where it lay across her pillow. The scent of her musk hung heavy in the air, and the sound of his name on her lips seemed to echo in the room. Images raced through his mind, the sight of her writhing on this same bed not long ago, moaning with pleasure, as his jealous gaze had followed her fingers, wanting to touch her in all the secret places she was touching herself. What had she imagined that made her call out his name? What had he done to her in her fantasies? If she woke now to find him leaning over her in the night, would she welcome him, body and soul? Or would she find him threatening, and shrink from him in fear? Could he could seduce her, woo her, make her love him? He stopped at the foot of the bed and reached out one gloved hand, shocked to see that it was trembling.

Hei shook his head, trying to free himself from the seductive spell she cast, even in her sleep. All those years spent denying his human emotions served him well now. Although it took considerable effort, he forced himself to touch only the papers lying next to her.

A quick scan showed them to be the personnel records of the embassy employees. Why had she spent so much time reading through these before bed? Did she suspect Evening Primrose had infiltrated the staff? He snapped pictures quickly and then replaced the papers exactly as they had been. He searched through her briefcase as well, downloaded the history and contacts from her cell phone, and checked the pockets of her trousers. He felt a moment's temptation to leave something in the wrong place, to send her a subtle signal that he had been there. But he was too well trained to violate such a basic protocol, and instead left the apartment exactly as it had been. Like a ghost, or a dream, he left no sign behind of his presence.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Yin searched the city while Hei caught up on slept for most of the morning. She used the names he'd gotten from Misaki's apartment to track down all the embassy employees with her specter. By the time he woke, she had located Brita and, with her, EPR's headquarters. After that she was able to trace Mao to the same high-rise office building, although her trace was cut soon afterwards. After a quick reconnaissance, they launched their rescue as soon as night fell.

Hei sent a blast of electricity through the transformer, throwing the entire area into a blackout. The large open atrium that ran though the center of the building allowed him to quickly scale the floors using his wire. He almost had Mao when Amber, damn her, emerged into the hallway. Suddenly Mao was forgotten and he could think of nothing but reaching Amber, getting answers out of her, one way or another.

Her new bodyguard Wei Zhijun got in the way again. But unlike last night, when Hei had escaped their encounter at the American Embassy unscathed, this time Wei managed to draw blood. Shards of concrete embedded themselves in his thigh. Hei's mask cracked, revealing his left eye, but he ignored the pain and fought past Wei and Brita to reach Amber. When he finally got his hands on her, rage burned through him and he felt energy pulse and surge throughout his body. The blue glow enveloped Amber, then the hallway, then the others and even the building itself. When the light was so bright it blinded him, when he was on the verge of wiping out Amber and everyone else with her, he heard it. After all these years, it was_ her _voice. Pai, his sister, calling out to him. Exhausted, shocked, he released Amber and fell painfully to his knees, the blue radiation dissipating.

The lights came back on but he remained frozen on the floor as the other contractors fled. Suddenly the staircase door behind him slammed open and an authoritative voice called out.

"Don't move!" The sound of an assault rifle being cocked added emphasis to the command. "Lie flat on your stomach and slowly place your hands on the floor. Do it now!"

Despite the threatening tone, Hei felt no fear. He turned slightly, looking behind him with the cracked edge of his mask visible. Misaki was magnificent, approaching him boldly, rifle raised. When her gaze met his she gasped, hesitated, shifting her weight uncertainly. Did she recognize him? Would she fire on the same man she'd longed for just last night?

He never found out the answer. Huang blasted a canister of smoke and Hei disappeared, leaving Amber, and Misaki, behind.


	4. Chapter 4: Wounds

**Title: **Instinct  
**Author: **setlib  
**Rating:** Mature  
**Pairings:** Misaki x Hei  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to any characters from Darker than BLACK.  
**Timeline:** This scene starts right after episode 22, City Under Crackdown Moist with Tears, Part 2.

**Summary**: Hei is ordered to get information out of Misaki using any means necessary. Misaki begins to suspect that Lee might be the Black Reaper. Both decide to uncover the truth, using seduction as their method of interrogation. Can love grow among so many lies?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Instinct, Chapter Four: Wounds**

Misaki gunned her blue Porsche through the empty late-night streets, whipping around corners and blowing through yellow lights. No matter how fast she drove, though, she couldn't escape the thoughts racing around in her mind.

Why hadn't she fired on BK-201? Why had she hesitated? When he turned to look at her, she'd been shocked to see a crack in his mask. His one eye, a startling dark blue, gazing calmly back at her had reminded Misaki that he was a person, not just a contractor. Something had called out to her, something familiar, perhaps just the shell of the human he used to be. Before she knew it he was gone, then the officials stormed in and yanked the case right out from under her. Again. But what had disturbed her most were Dr. Schroeder's words before he was taken away: _I know what caused the disaster in South America. The contractor in the mask – it was because of his power that it happened._

Could it be true? Could BK-201 have been responsible for the incident at Heaven's Gate? For the deaths of all those people? Was he truly that cold, that ruthless?

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that last night she had come home late to an empty fridge. She pulled off the main road and into a small, familiar neighborhood, sliding smoothly into an open parking space outside of Home Run House. A big bowl of ramen noodles would hit the spot right now. Or five bowls. Maybe ten.

As she was climbing out of the Porsche she spotted Lee crossing the street, hunched over in his baggy green jacket, a loaded backpack swinging on one shoulder. He was probably headed to his apartment nearby, and she hesitated to call out to him. After the way her imagination had run wild last night, how could she even look him in the face without blushing? But then she noticed that he was limping slightly, favoring his right leg, and concern outweighed embarrassment.

"Lee!" she called, slamming the car door and heading across the street to join him. His face had the usual blank, deer-in-the-headlights look he got whenever she surprised him, but it was quickly replaced by his shy, lopsided grin.

"Kirihara-san, it's nice to see you again. Were you having dinner?" he inquired politely, gesturing to the restaurant.

She didn't answer. As soon as she got closer to him, she noticed angry red welts around his left eye. Blood had dried in his hair and along the side of his ear. "What happened to you?" she exclaimed. "You're limping, and you have cuts on your face!"

He raised a hand to pull some hair over his eye, hiding the scratches. "Oh, this? I'm fine. I walked right into another student riding on a bicycle. I really should pay more attention." He shook his head, chuckling self-deprecatingly.

She moved closer to him and reached up a hand, smoothing his hair back so she could get a better look. "It must hurt."

"Not really," he murmured absently, his gaze following her hand, tracing along her arm and shoulder, up to find her watching him.

Misaki suddenly realized that she was standing so close to him that their hips and shoulders were nearly touching. Her hand was raised, fingers tangled in his hair, as if they were lovers about to embrace. She could feel his body heat, smell the masculine scent of him, a tantalizing mixture of salt and sea. When she licked her lips, and his gaze caught on that small movement, she remembered her revelation from last night. She would stop denying that was attracted to him. The question was, what was she going to do about it? If she could find the courage to make the first move, would he be interested? Judging by the way he continued to watch her lips, she thought her chances were pretty good.

"I could help you. You know, put some medicine on it. Up in your apartment." The words tumbled right out of her mouth before she could think about them. After all, she was hardly the nurturing type. But suddenly she was beginning to think that maybe she could be. For him.

He blushed, and stammered, in a way that was so sweet she wanted to kiss him right there on the empty sidewalk. "Ah, if you want to, I mean, sure. Yes. Thank you."

Together they silently walked the block to the Umitsuki Apartment building. As she followed him up the metal stairs to room 201, she was reminded of the first time they met. She'd been investigating a case in which his neighbor, the girl in room 202, had been murdered. Several contractors had been found dead as well, and BK-201 had been right in the middle of it all. She never was able to piece together exactly what had happened, and it remained just another unsettling mystery. But she had met Lee thanks to that case, and for that she was grateful.

He jiggled his key in the lock, flipped on the lights, and dropped his backpack to the floor with a solid thunk.

"Wow," she said, looking around his apartment at the furniture – or rather, lack of furniture. A low table, a box and a basket were the only things in the room. "Very, uh, minimalist." Then her stupid mouth blurted out the last thing in the world she wanted to say. "No bed?"

He smiled shyly. "There's a futon in the cupboard. I can take it out at night. But my first few weeks here, I just slept on the floor."

She nodded sympathetically, but really she was wishing they were at her place where they could get comfortable. _Maybe next time_, she thought, and then caught herself. Next time? Who said there was going to be a first time? She tried to recover her sense of dignity. "It reminds me a little of my apartment."

"You don't have any furniture?" Lee asked, raising one eyebrow.

"I do, but I hardly ever use most of it. I'm always out working. I don't even have any plants, because I'm not home often enough to water them."

"Like me," he said, smiling. "I'm either in class or working all the time."

She gave his apartment another glance. "You don't really need to add anything. It's a very Zen look."

"More like a poor look." He pointed at himself. "Starving college student, remember?"

She laughed and her own stomach rumbled in sympathy. "Well, you may be a student, but you don't have to starve. How about I go pick us up some takeout?"

His eyes lit up eagerly. "That's a great idea!"

"Twenty bowls of noodles, coming up! Pork or chicken?"

"Can't we have both?"

Misaki chuckled and headed back outside. Lee gave her an awkward wave before closing the door gently behind her. She walked quickly back to Home Run House to place their order. Realizing she had left her cell phone in the car, she stopped by to retrieve it, groaning when she saw that she had five new messages from Saito. Rather than listen to them all, she called him back.

"Chief! You won't believe our good luck!" Saito exclaimed.

"You caught BK-201?"

"Well, no. But it's almost that good. We got a lead! We found the shard from his mask, and it's got a blood sample on it."

Misaki sucked in her breath. Blood! That was the closest thing to a break they'd ever had. "Run it through the database," she said excitedly. "If there's a match—"

"I know, they're already on it."

"They?"

Saito sighed. "PANDORA took the sample. Said they'd run all the tests in their own labs."

Misaki cursed creatively and extensively.

"Don't worry, Chief. We found something else - a chunk of concrete with more blood on it."

"Isn't that just Wei Zhijun's blood?"

"I don't think so. Wei's blood disappears completely in his explosions. I'm thinking this might have been a chuck of concrete that tagged BK-201 somewhere, maybe in the leg, and injured him."

Saito kept talking, explaining his theory, but Misaki couldn't hear him. She gasped, blood pounding in her head as all the pieces suddenly fell into place.

BK-201 was injured, possibly in the leg. Lee was limping tonight.

BK-201 was cut near his eye. The same eye where Lee had bled tonight.

BK-201 had saved her at Alice's party. So had Lee.

One of BK-201's victims had lived right next door in apartment 202. Lee lived in apartment 201. 201, for fuck's sake! It was so obvious now! Was he _trying_ to taunt her by leaving clues out in the open?

Misaki leaned against her car, trying to keep her balance with her head spinning. All this time, they had been the same person! How could she have missed it? Images from last night flashed before her eyes. She had fantasized about BK-201, but her mind had given him Lee's face! She had even approached Lee once, in the lingerie store when she saw him from behind, and thought he was BK-201. When he turned around, she just laughed it off as a mistake, but now she knew better. Deep down, maybe she had known for quite some time. She just hadn't wanted to admit to herself that she had fallen for a contractor.

She let her forehead fall against the roof of her car. How was she going to explain this? What was she supposed to tell Saito - that she'd just been trying to think of an excuse to spend the night with the most wanted man in Japan? She had to gather more evidence first. Undeniable proof. She wasn't going to embarrass herself with wild accusations.

"Saito, I want you to run some records for me. Search the employment history of a Chinese exchange student named Lee Shenshun. Crosscheck it against all known activity for BK-201."

"Student records? Why?"

"Just trust me," she said grimly.

"I'll get right on it," Saito assured her.

"I'll call you back to see what you found out. Don't make any moves without my orders. And there's no need to inform PANDORA of this yet."

"Read you loud and clear, Chief."

Misaki clicked her cell phone closed and then noticed the proprietor of Home Run House waving at her through the window. Her takeout order must be ready. She ran an unsteady hand through her hair. Now what? Go back into his apartment? Act like everything was normal?

Well, why not?

He was still pretending to be Lee. As long as he thought she was buying his cover, this could be her only chance to get any real information out of him. And if he thought she was interested in him, all the better. She'd never imagined herself as the femme fatale – she'd always wanted to be the detective, even in the old noir films she used to watch with her dad. She wasn't particularly known for her feminine wiles. Could she pull this off? Seduce him into confessing everything?

Misaki braced her shoulders. She sure as hell was going to try. She checked her purse, making sure her Glock was loaded. By the end of the night, she was going to have BK-201 in her custody. One way or another.


	5. Chapter 5: Lies

**Title: **Instinct  
**Author: **setlib  
**Rating:** Mature  
**Pairings:** Misaki x Hei  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to any characters from Darker than BLACK.  
**Timeline:** This scene starts right after episode 22, City Under Crackdown Moist with Tears, Part 2.

**Summary**: Hei is ordered to get information out of Misaki using any means necessary. Misaki begins to suspect that Lee might be the Black Reaper. Both decide to uncover the truth, using seduction as their method of interrogation. Can love grow among so many lies?

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**Instinct, Chapter Five: Lies**

Hei heard the front door click and shut off the shower, grabbing a towel and drying off quickly. He could smell the ramen noodles and his stomach growled appreciatively. A thin stream of blood ran down his leg from the chunk of concrete he'd pulled out before his shower. He grabbed a piece of gauze from the bathroom cabinet, jamming it into the wound to stem the bleeding and quickly tying it in place. He pulled on a clean pair of jeans and picked up his white shirt. _Misaki was here_, he thought, torn between nervousness and excitement. She was here, in his apartment. Waiting for him.

She was clearly trying to work up the nerve to turn her fantasies about Lee into reality. And how would Lee respond to such a situation? Too shy to make the first move himself, he'd be forced to wait for her to initiate any intimacy.

Hei blew out an irritated breath. At times like this, having to play the mild-mannered, clumsy young student really annoyed him. If the Black Reaper wanted a woman like Misaki, he wouldn't wait around for her to make the first move. He'd grab her by the hair and kiss her until she kissed him back. The thought made his blood race, his fists clench.

His two identities were such polar opposites, it was driving him crazy. Take his shirt, he thought, holding it up to look at it. Lee would wear the white shirt buttoned up properly so he didn't make Misaki uncomfortable, but the Black Reaper would swagger into the other room with his chest bare, practically daring her to look. So what was he supposed to do? Hei shook his head. Here he was trying to decide how to approach a girl he liked, and the only way he could come up with ideas was to imagine what Lee or the Reaper would do. There was just one little problem with that strategy.

Neither of them was real.

Hei wasn't shy and awkward like Lee. But he wasn't ruthless like the Reaper either. He had spent most of the past five years playing a role. And in the process, he'd forgotten how to just be himself. Like a teenaged boy going to his first dance, he had no idea how to show a woman he was interested in her. And Misaki's social skills weren't much better.

_The two of them were pretty pathetic_, he thought humorlessly. Both workaholics, more comfortable with violence than affection. She could handle an assault rifle with confidence, but put her in front of a man she liked and she got all jittery. He could plant a bomb, carry out an assassination, or weave an elaborate web of lies without a qualm. But the idea of forging _real_ relationships, with real people, terrified him. He could barely bring himself to talk to his neighbors. How was he supposed to talk to a woman he liked?

Lee would treat her like a treasure, honoring and respecting her. The Black Reaper would treat her like a target, seducing and abandoning her. But neither approach would satisfy him, he realized. He didn't want to think of her as just a job anymore. Or as some untouchable paragon up on a pedestal. He wanted a real woman, flesh and blood, temper and tears, to challenge him during the day and cherish him at night. He wanted her to look at him, to see him for what he really was, and still want him anyway. As if her desire could cleanse him of the past and make him worthy of such a gift.

He decided to take the middle path. He wouldn't behave like an adoring puppy, like Lee, or a heartless bastard, like the Reaper. He would do what felt right. What he wanted to do. He slipped his white shirt on, but left it unbuttoned. Not too shy, not too bold. Just enough to hold her interest without scaring her off.

He left the bathroom and heard Misaki puttering around in the kitchen with the takeout bags and bowls. He glanced at his backpack by the door, noticing that it was zipped all the way up. He'd left it slightly unzipped on purpose, so he would be able to tell if she started nosing around in there. As soon as she'd left to get the food, he had pulled all his equipment out and stowed his crossbow, harness, blades, mask and coat in the apartment's air vents. Then he'd stuffed the backpack full again with textbooks and his other "student" props. He had fully expected her to try to go through it while he was in the shower. She was a woman _and_ a police officer, therefore making her one of the nosiest people on the planet.

Just to be safe, Hei turned his back to the kitchen and picked up her large black purse, using his body to block what he was doing. Inside he found her Glock and decided to quickly remove the magazine and the chambered round, shoving them into his jeans pocket. He shut off her cell phone so they wouldn't be interrupted, then returned everything exactly to their previous positions, glancing over his shoulder to make sure she hadn't come out of the kitchen yet. He shouldn't be surprised that she brought a gun to his apartment. She was a cop, after all. Still, for some reason it bothered him. Could she suspect his true identity? He frowned. Unlikely. If she'd thought he was BK-201, she would have probably come barging into the shower, gun in hand. She wouldn't be busy preparing dinner. And yet it nagged at him - did she always bring a gun on her dates?

Hei walked to the kitchen and leaned against the door frame. "Need a hand?" he asked, and Misaki jumped about a foot before turning around with an anxious grin. He could tell the moment she noticed his unbuttoned shirt. Her eyes widened, then looked him up and down before she tore her gaze away.

"Nope. I'm good. Just unpacking everything. You know, the food. And stuff. So, uh, yeah. Where do we eat?"

She was so nervous, it was downright cute. He nodded toward the floor. "I eat old-style around here. We can sit on the tatami mats." He pulled two trays out of a cabinet and helped her assemble all the dishes. They each carried their tray into the main room. He steeled himself and then sank to his knees smoothly, not letting even a grimace escape as the movement stretched his leg wound.

"The cut on your eye looks a lot better now that you washed it," Misaki said as she sat down. "How did you say you got it again?"

Had she actually forgotten? "A bicycle accident."

"Where were you riding your bike?" She picked up a pair of chopsticks casually.

"I wasn't riding. I walked into someone else who was riding. It was on campus."

"What time of day was that?"

He started laughing. "Are you interrogating me? Looking for holes in my story?"

She blushed furiously. "Oh, no, no, it's not that. Just habit, I guess. I always think in those kinds of details. Sorry. I forget it annoys other people."

He picked up his first bowl of noodles and started eating. "Don't worry about it."

They ate in silence for a few moments, and Hei could feel Misaki's gaze return, briefly but repeatedly, to the expanse of chest and abdomen visible through his open shirt. Like a butterfly, her gaze would land lightly and then, easily spooked, flutter away. When she finally worked up the nerve to comment, it wasn't quite what he expected.

"Where did you get all those scars?" she asked softly.

He looked down. How could he have forgotten? Spidery white lines criss-crossed his chest, evidence of his many violent encounters with other contractors. He'd been cut with everything from concrete, like tonight, to flying shards of glass, wood, and ice. One contractor with an especially bizarre power had even managed to nail him with a couple of hedgehog quills. Most of the injuries were at least a few years old, since his black coat now gave him a lot more protection. But the ability to ignore pain was a basic job requirement, so he never really thought anything of his injuries or the scars they left behind. He hoped she wasn't going to ask him what happened. He couldn't tell her the truth, but he didn't want to have to make up a story. He was getting tired of lying to her.

She pushed their trays aside and crawled closer to him, reaching tentative fingers out to trace a scar that ran just under his collarbone. Her touch, though delicate, hit him with the force of a hammer. Longing raged through him. He wanted to see the passion he felt reflected in her eyes. He peeled back his shirt and let it drop to the floor, watching her face carefully as he revealed arms that were similarly marked with faint white lines. Her eyes widened, breath quickened, as she finally saw the real him.

Slowly Hei realized that something wasn't quite right. She continued to stroke his chest, leaning toward him, tilting her face up, giving all the signs of a woman overcome with desire. And yet the trembling wracking her fingers didn't come from passion. Hei looked down into Misaki's face as she moved in to kiss him, and saw the one thing he never wanted to see from her. Fear.

She knew.

Somehow she'd figured it out. She knew Lee was just a cover for the Black Reaper. And the little idiot thought she could play him? What the hell was she doing? Didn't she realize how dangerous he was? Anger coursed through him at her carelessness.

Hei grabbed her shoulders, shaking her, holding her away from him. "You want to know how I got these scars?" he growled. "Contractors. Hundreds of them. They all thought they were stronger, faster, smarter than I was. But they were wrong. I killed them all. Every last one."

She gasped and tried to pull out of his grip but he tightened his fingers until they dug into her arms. "What are you going to do about it, Chief Kirihara? Arrest me for murder?" He let her go then and she rolled quickly away, running across the room to the door. She dug her Glock out of her purse and whirled, pointing it at him.

"That's right," she panted. "You're under arrest. Lay face down on the floor."

Hei stood slowly, deliberately, noting the alarm in her gaze.

"I said stay down! I _will_ shoot!"

Relaxed, palms out, he walked toward her. When he was three paces away Misaki fired, her face drawn in horror at the Glock's empty click. He reached into his jeans and held up the magazine between two fingers. "Looking for this?" He thrust it back deep into his pocket. "You'll have to come and get it."

She spun around to run out of the apartment but Hei leapt forward, crushing her body against the door with his weight. He grabbed her wrists in each of his hands and spread them wide, pressing his chest hard against her back so she was pinned. She tried to kick at him so he pushed harder, his hips cradling hers, his knees against the backs of her thighs. She panted, squirmed, and cursed, but couldn't break free. Although he was able to restrain her temporarily, he couldn't do anything else. If he let go of her right now, she'd probably elbow him in the nose, punch him in the groin, or break his foot – or do all three. They were at an impasse.

"I'll scream," she threatened.

"You're not really the damsel-in-distress type," he countered. "Besides, if anyone comes running, you'll just be putting them in danger."

"Let me go. Now!"

Hei closed his eyes, breathing in her scent as he considered his next move. Everything would change after tonight. Not only was his cover ruined, but it was all coming to a head. Amber, the Gate, the Syndicate, his sister….everything was converging, and soon nothing would be the same. He might never see Misaki again after tonight. Suddenly, that was the only thing that mattered to him. He wasn't angry at her for doing her job. But he didn't want her to leave while she was still afraid of him. Now that he didn't have to lie about his identity anymore, he felt strangely liberated. Free to do whatever he wanted.

He leaned his head close to hers, whispering against her neck. "If you leave now, you'll never see me again. You've blown my cover. I have to go into hiding. This is your only chance. I'll answer all of your questions if you stay. But if you go, you get nothing." She tried to turn her head, to look him in the eye, but he moved his lips to her ear. "Stay with me," he murmured, then gave in to the desire that had been clawing at him for so long now. He called out her name, like a lover, or a prayer.

"_Misaki_."


	6. Chapter 6: Truths

**Title: **Instinct  
**Author: **setlib  
**Rating:** Mature  
**Pairings:** Misaki x Hei  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to any characters from Darker than BLACK.  
**Timeline:** This scene starts right after episode 22, City Under Crackdown Moist with Tears, Part 2.

**Summary**: Hei is ordered to get information out of Misaki using any means necessary. Misaki begins to suspect that Lee might be the Black Reaper. Both decide to uncover the truth, using seduction as their method of interrogation. Can love grow among so many lies?

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**Instinct, Chapter Six: Truths**

"_Misaki_."

When Lee whispered her name, his voice raw with longing, Misaki felt the world shift beneath her feet. She had seen the physical evidence of his violent life, the scars stretched across his skin in a ghostly web. His body was like a war zone made flesh, and at the reminder of all the lives he had taken, she had felt her bravado fade away. She lost confidence in her ability to control him or the situation. But here he was, handing control back to her. Why? Contractors were supposed to be cold, logical. Something trivial like physical desire shouldn't cloud his judgment. Yet she could hear the hunger in his voice, and an answering hunger rose up involuntarily within her.

"I won't hurt you. You have my word." He shifted slightly against her, and Misaki could feel the heat of his bare chest practically burning the skin of her back, even through her shirt and suit jacket. Worse, she felt a powerful urge to shed those layers, to feel the slow slide of his skin directly against hers. He loosened his grip on her wrists, although his hands remained lightly over hers to prevent her from striking at him. "Stay with me, just until dawn. Then you can leave, unharmed."

He pulled away from her then and she turned slowly to watch him. He returned to the middle of the room and sat down on the floor, palms resting unthreateningly on his knees. He clearly wanted her to feel like he wasn't going to interfere in her choice, although whether or not that was really true, she didn't know. Her hand lowered to the doorknob as she watched him for any sign of deception. The safest course of action would be to run to her car and call for backup on the police radio. But his promise tempted her too much. If tonight was her only chance to get information out of him, then she would take it, and risk the consequences.

"All right, Lee," she began, dropping her hand away from the door. "Wait, that's not even your real name. What do I call you?"

"Hei will do for now."

She frowned. Yet another name to keep track of, and even that probably wasn't his real one. "Hei. Who do you work for?"

"The Syndicate."

"Yes, but _who_ is running this Syndicate?" she asked impatiently.

"I don't know."

Misaki threw up her hands in frustration. "How can you not know who you work for?"

"I've never spoken directly with anyone in the Syndicate. They could be anywhere." He shrugged. "There could be members in your own department."

She highly doubted that. "So how do you get your orders?"

"Someone else meets with them and passes the orders along to my team."

"Team?" Misaki pressed eagerly, approaching him. "How many of you are there?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you that."

"I thought you said you would answer all of my questions!"

"Questions having to do just with me, yes. But I don't have the right to jeopardize the other members of my team."

Misaki paused to gather her thoughts. What exactly was her priority here? Ideally she should arrest Lee, or Hei, whatever, and his team so they couldn't commit any more crimes. But first, while he was willing to talk, she would try to get answers about as many unsolved crimes as she could.

"What about your neighbor, Chiaki? Did you kill her?" she demanded brusquely.

"Why would you think that?" he asked, frowning. "She was shot. I don't like to use guns. No stealth, no skill, no subtlety."

"Then what happened to her?"

He sighed. "A rival team was trying to draw me out. She was the bait. Even the papers she carried were fakes."

Misaki paused for a moment, remembering the body they pulled from the river. "So the other contractors we found, they were trying to kill you?"

"Yes. But I killed them first." He gestured calmly to the scars across his chest. "That kind of turf warfare happens more often that you might think."

"Turf warfare? Is that what killed that mobster Hitotsubashi at the train station? Your star was active, but we could never link you to his death."

"I didn't kill him. He must have been shot by a rival gang leader. Remember, I don't like guns."

"But you know something," she guessed. Lured by the promise of more information, she stepped closer and knelt across from him on the floor.

Hei nodded. "Hitotsubashi was smuggling dolls. One of them escaped at the train station."

"How could a doll run away? They don't have that kind of free will."

"Someone was helping her, and I was helping him. Remember when you saw me in the lingerie store?"

Misaki blushed as she recalled their awkward meeting. She had been out clothes shopping with Kanami, had seen him from the back, and had instantly suspected he was BK-201. She didn't even have her gun with her, but she grabbed a tube of lipstick from her purse and jammed it into his back as a bluff. She was so embarrassed when it turned out to be Lee, and had believed his explanation about shopping for a friend of his. She shook her head. All along, her instincts had been right. She should have trusted them. "So you were buying clothes for the doll. Is that it? But why would your friend run off with a doll?"

Hei shrugged. "He wanted to do something good. To protect her. He thought he was in love with her."

She could hear the skepticism in his voice. "You think he was deluding himself."

"Dolls can't love. They can't choose. They can't even feed themselves. How could you ever know if a doll was with you because she wanted to be, or because she was just dependent on you? Or obeying orders?"

Misaki shuddered. "I couldn't stand that. The passivity, the blind obedience, being used all the time, with no choice – it's worse than death!"

"They're horrific creations. But, at the same time, powerful weapons. Just like contractors. Perfect assassins, because they don't care who they hurt."

She edged closer to him, noting the almost-healed cut on his arm – from the encounter with Wei Zhijun? – and the new lines around his eye. "Is that true, Hei? You don't care who you hurt?" Misaki asked softly. "Why do you work for the Syndicate? What do you get out of it?" When he was silent, she pressed harder. "Do you _enjoy_ killing?"

The pain that flashed through his deep blue eyes took her breath away. She moved to his side, strangely wanting to comfort him. Stupid move. Risky. Contractors didn't need comforting. Murderers didn't deserve it. Yet here she was, reaching out a hand to touch his bare shoulder.

"I used to pretend that I liked the killing," he admitted hoarsely. "At first I only took those jobs so I could stay close to her."

"Her? You mean Amber?

He shook his head. "My sister Pai. She was the real BK-201."

Even as Misaki slid a comforting hand down his arm, her mind reeled with shock. He had a sister? And she used to have his power? With all the research she'd done on BK-201's history, how could she have not uncovered this?

She listened closely as he continued, staring blindly down at the tatami mats with his attention turned inward to his memories. "Pai's the one who joined the Syndicate. We met Amber down in South America."

"Were – were you part of Heaven's War?"

"I had to stay close to her. She was my little sister. It was my job to take care of her. Even though she could kill twenty other contractors in a flash, she still needed me. I couldn't leave her. She was the only family I had left."

The lean muscles of his arm bunched with tension under her hand. Misaki felt warring urges to console him, and to interrogate him further. "What happened to her?"

He met her gaze then, a faint glimmer of tears clinging to his impossibly long black lashes. "She went missing, and I've been searching for her ever since. Everything I've done the past five years – working for the Syndicate, masquerading as the Black Reaper, hunting down Amber, _everything_ – was to help me find Pai."

"You don't sound like a contractor. They don't care about family, or love."

"You think I'm incapable of love?" he asked bitterly. "That a monster like me doesn't deserve it?"

Misaki was shocked by the anguish in his voice. Suddenly the fact that he was her suspect became far less important than the fact that he was her friend, and he was in pain. She leaned forward, wrapping him in a tentative embrace. "You're not a monster. I've met them – men with no conscience, no morals. You're not like that."

A shudder wracked through his body as he buried his head on her shoulder. His hands clenched in the back of her jacket, pulling her flush against him. Misaki felt her body pulse with heat, but she didn't know whether the sudden rush of blood came from the peril or the promise that his touch evoked. She was supposed to be interrogating him, she reminded herself. She shouldn't be running her fingers through his thick black hair. She shouldn't tilt her head down to breathe in his raw, masculine scent. She shouldn't be holding onto him as if he were the only thing she could rely on in a world gone mad. But her sense of duty paled beside the flash of desire that rocked through her. How much longer was she going to put her life on hold for the sake of her job? _Rely on her instincts_, that's what November 11 told her. While her rational mind was warning her not to trust a contractor, her instincts were screaming that this was the one man, the only man, who would ever make her feel this way. Tonight she wanted to experience everything she could, take everything he was willing to give, because who knew what sorrows tomorrow would hold for both of them?

She pushed lightly against his shoulders and he pulled back, quickly trying to mask the vulnerability in his eyes. Did he think she was rejecting him? She moved her hands up to his cheeks, stopping his withdrawal. "Show me," she whispered. "Show me that you know how to love."

She leaned forward to kiss him and he froze, barely responding as she slid her lips gently against his. She pulled back to find his body tense, fists clenched at his side, rigid with the effort it took him to retain his self-control. Determined now that she had made up her mind, she rose on her knees, straddling his lap, lowering herself down deliberately to rock against him. She had to bend down now to kiss him, angling her head, nipping and suckling at his lips until he moaned. She stopped long enough to look into his face and see the desire that was finally cracking through his careful façade. She smiled slowly, triumphantly. "I want you," she insisted, her hands fisting in his long hair. "Take me!"

Her command unleashed a torrent of suppressed desire from him. Hei surged forward, throwing her down to the floor with enough force to leave her gasping for breath. His body pressed hard against hers, crushing her beneath him, while he caught her lips in a painful kiss. Teeth scraped, flesh bruised, she tasted someone's blood in her mouth. He seized her wrists, his long fingers digging into her skin as he held her down. She was trapped, pinned, barely able to move or even breathe.

Misaki had never felt freer.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Author's Note**: I'm sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter! I was about halfway through writing it when I started watching the second season of DTB online and realized the happy ending I was planning didn't really fit with the current direction of the story. I actually enjoyed how Hei got really dark and depressed in Season 2, although I'm hoping this is just the middle chapter and there's a redemptive ending coming. But poor Misaki can't get a break! And wtf with her joining up with PsychoBoobsLady at the end? Sheesh! Anyway I'm trying to incorporate some of that darkness in my story now but it is taking me longer to work out all the details. I'll see if I can still figure out some kind of happy-ish ending!


	7. Chapter 7: Touches

**Title: **Instinct  
**Author: **setlib  
**Rating:** **Mature. Very, very mature. Full of lemony goodness. You have been warned!**  
**Pairings:** Misaki x Hei  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to any characters from Darker than BLACK.  
**Timeline:** This scene starts right after episode 22, City Under Crackdown Moist with Tears, Part 2.

**Summary**: Hei is ordered to get information out of Misaki using any means necessary. Misaki begins to suspect that Lee might be the Black Reaper. Both decide to uncover the truth, using seduction as their method of interrogation. Can love grow among so many lies?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Instinct, Chapter Seven: Touches**

The first time they had sex, there was nothing tender about it. It was fast, and hard, punctuated by grunts and gasps instead of moans. An observer might have thought they were fighting, bringing each other pain rather than pleasure. Hei didn't want to hurt Misaki, but after denying his emotions for so long, moderation was impossible. Now that the dam had broken, he was unable to hold back the flood.

He ripped open her plain blue blouse, sending buttons flying. Too impatient to undress her, he yanked up her undershirt and bra, tangling up her arms but, more importantly, giving him access to her pert breasts. They fit in his hands perfectly, and even though he wanted to stroke her slowly and leisurely, he knew instead his grip was rough and frenzied. He swallowed her cries, his mouth keeping her pinned to the floor in an unyielding kiss. But then her hips jerked up against his, and he knew the same violent desire was coursing through her as well.

He pulled back and sat on his knees only long enough to unfasten her trousers and yank them down to her ankles. He loosened the fly of his jeans and then surged between her bent knees. He stroked through the nest of curls between her legs, relieved to find her already damp with desire, but unable to slow down long enough to do anything but position himself and thrust, hard and hot, into her tight passage. With a keening wail she arched her back and he slid deeper inside her, jammed to the hilt. He paused for a moment, holding himself over her, to savor the wild joy that filled him. After years of isolation, finally he felt like he was no longer alone.

But then she clenched her muscles hard and a shudder wracked through him as he was stripped of anything but the compulsion to bury himself within her. He hooked his right arm around her knee to keep her legs open wide, braced his left arm heavily across her chest to hold her in place, then began to pump his hips in a rhythm that was primal, selfish, and undeniable. His consciousness narrowed to nothing but the slick slide of flesh that, with each jerking thrust, brought him closer to oblivion. He distantly heard her cries mounting until finally her body tightened around him and he poured himself, everything he was, everything he had to give, into her keeping.

It was several minutes before either of them tried to move. Hei's head rested heavily on Misaki's shoulder, and finally the discomfort of laying on the bunched material of her shirt and bra spurred him to move. He lifted himself onto his elbows and looked down into her face, unsure of the welcome he would receive. She might take issue with the fact that their first encounter had been steeped in roughness rather than romance. But her expression was more relaxed than he had ever seen, almost serene, although her glasses had been knocked sideways. He smiled, pulling her glasses off and setting them on the floor. She had clearly needed the release as urgently as he had, but he still regretted hurrying through their first time together and vowed privately that he would make it up to her, soon. The Reaper may have been the first to have her, but Lee would be next. And Hei? He would enjoy every minute.

He kissed her gently and then sat up to kick off his jeans. He helped her struggle out of her own clothes and added them to the growing pile. She sat up, bending her knees and crossing her hands over her chest, her strong sense of modesty apparently kicking in now that the urgency of passion had faded. He didn't like being denied the sight of her body, but he wouldn't push her just now. They had all night.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, noting that their half-eaten meals were still sitting in the trays on the floor nearby. She nodded but didn't speak, and he found her sudden shyness quite endearing. He brought the food over, sitting cross-legged next to her, completely comfortable with his own nudity. When she refused to lower her hands, even to pick up her chopsticks, he smiled and prepared a bite for her. He raised the chopsticks to her lips, forcing her to lean forward to catch all the noodles. He continued alternating bites for himself and for her until an oversized portion he was trying to feed her slipped out of his grasp, noodles sliding between her arms and across her belly.

"That was my fault. Let me clean that up for you," he offered with a wicked grin. He bent down, licking up a noodle that had fallen on her elbow, and heard her give a tiny gasp. He nudged her arms aside with his nose, kissing a path to where the next noodle had landed under her left breast and suckling the tender skin there. The last noodle lay just under her belly button and he bowed low, using his tongue and teeth to raise gooseflesh across her sensitive skin. When he finally sat up he was glad to see her more at ease, her face torn between arousal and amusement.

"You really do have quite an appetite, don't you?" she teased, with a giggle that made her sound more like a carefree schoolgirl than an overworked Police Chief.

"You have no idea," he replied, reaching for the next bowl of noodles. Somehow, mysteriously, his grip slipped and all the noodles fell out across both of them.

She looked at the traces of food covering his chest and abdomen and licked her lips in a way that caused his stomach to tighten in anticipation. "I've got a pretty big appetite myself," she warned, her voice taking on a husky edge. She leaned toward him and he closed his eyes, giving himself up to the sensations. One thing was for sure, he'd never be able to look at another bowl of ramen again without thinking of Misaki.

Much later, their hunger for noodles sated but their hunger for each other stoked again, Hei guided Misaki into the shower. It was too small for both of them, unfortunately, but he was much more interested in watching her than in showering himself. He turned her around to face the wall, lathering his hands and stroking them slowly, slickly, across her back. Her skin bore scratches from earlier, when he'd held her down against the tatami mats without regard for anything but keeping her still while he pumped himself into her. "I'm sorry," he whispered, leaning close to her, the spray from the shower trickling down his chest.

"For what?" she asked, breathless as his hands moved down her back, massaging her hips and then sliding in front to dip in between her legs.

"I was too rough with you earlier. I'm sorry about that. I plan to make it up to you, though. Very soon." She opened her mouth to reply but could only moan as he slipped soapy fingers between the folds of her flesh, gliding over her clitoris.

"I liked it," she gasped. "I like it. Don't stop." She braced her hands against the tile walls of the shower and pushed her hips back into his, trapping the length of his erection between them and shifting her weight, stroking him even as he stroked her.

The urge to take her like this, to slip inside her while she was so wet and willing, was hard to resist. But he had more control now than he did the first time, so instead he teased her. Massaging her breasts, stroking her thighs, always returning to rub her clitoris again for a few moments before moving on to the next erogenous zone, he soon had her panting his name, pleading with him for release.

He flipped her around and pressed into her, his cock hard against her belly, while he leaned in to kiss her. Warm water ran down their cheeks in tiny rivulets as he thrust his tongue inside her mouth in an imitation of what he wanted to do between her legs. He tried to consciously gentle his touch this time, suckling her lips, sliding his tongue against hers, savoring her taste and the needy moans she made, but he could only take so much. He pulled back with a gasp. "I'm going to get the bed out for you, Misaki. Come join me as soon as you're ready."

He left her in the shower, figuring she probably need some time alone in the bathroom, and returned to the main room to clean up the mess they'd made with the noodles. He pulled the futon mattress and blankets out of the closet and made up the bed, then lay down in the middle and stared at the bathroom door, waiting for her. The activity had eased his erection slightly but that changed as soon as she came out of the bathroom. Her wet hair had been brushed smooth and sleek, giving her an exotic appearance. However she had wrapped a towel around her body and he nearly growled at being denied the sight of her body.

"Are you still shy around me, Misaki? When I've already touched, and licked, every inch of your body?" He lowered his hand to his erection, stroking slightly, watching her eyes follow his fingers and widen in surprise. "Can't you see the effect you have on me? You're so beautiful, I want you so much. I want to see you. Please."

She nodded shyly and unfastened the towel, dropping it slowly to the floor. She stood over him like a goddess, and he let his gaze roam over the gentle curve of her collarbone, to her deliciously erect nipples, down her smooth belly and thighs. He had it bad for her, he knew - even her toes turned him on. "Come here," he demanded, holding out his arms.

Misaki stepped cautiously onto the mattress, straddling him, and he thoroughly enjoyed the view as she sank down slowly. She grabbed his erection and tried to guide him into her, although her movements were somewhat tentative and he nearly groaned with the sensation as she fumbled lightly with him. She finally got his cock in the right place but she was hesitant to lower herself fully onto him, stopping with just the tip inside her.

Hei clenched his fits into the mattress. The urge to grab her hips and thrust deep into her nearly set fire to his veins, but he had vowed not to rush things, even if it felt like it would surely kill him to keep holding back. Then she began rotating her hips, taking him deeper inch by agonizingly slow inch, and he began practicing deep breathing exercises to hold onto his control. When he was finally all the way inside her he thought it would be easier to restrain himself, but in fact the torture was just beginning.

She began to move in a leisurely, rhythmic way, her head tilted back and eyes closed in concentration. Her hips moved side to side, around in circles, then in waves that made her internal walls pull and push against him in a way that nearly made his eyes roll up in his head.

"What are you doing?" he gasped, breathing exercises forgotten.

"Undulation."

"What the hell is that?"

"Something I learned in a belly dancing class I took with Kanami." She opened her eyes and looked down at him, a wicked grin on her face. "Do you like it?"

"Aaaaghh," was all he could reply as she increased her speed, her movements harder and tighter, as he held onto the mattress and let her ride him to her satisfaction.

During their second time together, Hei tried to remember everything about it, from Misaki's knowing smile, to the sound of the little moans she made as she neared her climax, to the cherry chocolate color of her small nipples. He filed all the details away in his mind, so that he could pull out each one during the long, lonely nights that lie ahead and relive his favorite moments. And as he slipped his thumb between her legs and stroked her, heightening her pleasure until her movements became frantic, he tried to burn into his memory the feel of her body tightening around him, the sensation of pouring himself into her until there was no him, no her, no self, only the two of them together, a fleeting moment of unity with each other and the universe.

When he could move again, he nestled Misaki against his shoulder and pulled the quilt up to cover them both. Her fingers stroked against his chest, idly tracing the lines of scars that puckered his flesh. Although it was late, and they were both tired, neither one wanted to sleep. As if they knew how limited, how precious, this time together was.

"What did you want to be when you were a kid?" she asked suddenly.

He laughed. "What kind of question is that?"

He could feel her shrug. "It's just – I know so little about you. I don't want to talk about cases, or contractors, or any of that stuff. So tell me something else, like about your childhood. I always knew I wanted to be a police officer, to help people. What did you want to be?"

Unbidden, memories flitted through his head, and he smiled. He hadn't thought about this in so long, and yet he could remember every detail. "A gymnast," he said finally.

"What, like in the Olympics?"

He nodded. "I wanted to bring home gold medals for China. More than anyone else. I even had a poster on the wall of my bedroom of the famous gymnast Li Xiaoshuang."

"Hmmm. That sounds a little bit like Lee Shenshun. Did he inspire your name?"

"It's an amazing coincidence," he said drily.

"So what happened?"

"I practiced and practiced. I could do a ten-minute handstand by the time I was six. But when I finally tried out for the regional gymnastics school, I was told that I would be too tall to be a good gymnast."

"Awww. Were you disappointed?"

"For a while, but then I found out the Shanghai Circus was looking for gymnasts. So I went to live and train with them."

"How old were you?"

"Eight."

Misaki looked up at him in surprise. "You moved away from home when you were eight years old?"

"That's how it's done. The training is intense."

"So what can you do? Juggle?"

"Sure, I can juggle. But my training was in the aerial arts."

"What, like flying?"

"No - trapeze, rope, wire walking."

"Wires, huh?" Misaki said with a bit of that "cop" tone to her voice.

Hei leaned onto his side, propping his head up on his left hand so he could look down into her face. He reached out with his right hand, pulling down the quilt and stroking slowly across her stomach and breasts until the suspicious glint faded from her eyes, replaced by burgeoning desire.

"Wires, yes. And knife throwing. And rope darts."

"Skills that have come in quite handy," she said breathlessly as his fingers circled a nipple lightly.

"My circus training saved my life, in more ways than one. Before my sister became a contractor, she started as a moratorium, unable to control her power. She killed nearly everyone in our town, including our parents, before she even knew what she was doing. If I hadn't been away training, she would have killed me, too."

Misaki raised a hand to stroke his cheek, and he was surprised how much comfort this simple gesture gave him. "That's why she was the only family you had left. That's why you had to protect her."

He nodded. It was so good to finally be able to talk about this with someone. Someone who understood, who wouldn't condemn him for helping his sister, instead of killing her. So far Misaki had been able to handle all his secrets, had been able to look directly at his dark side without turning away from him in fear or disgust. He didn't know how much longer this break from reality would last, but he was determined to make the most of it. "Misaki," he whispered, nuzzling his head against her neck, nibbling and sucking until she gasped with excitement even as his fingers revisited all her secret places.

The third time they made love, when he slid into her it felt like coming home. He was desired – no, not only that. Wanted. Needed. Accepted. No matter what tomorrow held for them, he felt like he could face it, knowing there was at least one person in this world who didn't think he was a monster. Who cared whether he lived or died. Who, maybe, just maybe, might even love him. Whether he deserved it or not.

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**Author's Note**: One of the things that is so intriguing, yet frustrating, about DTB is how little information we're given about Hei. I mean, he can do some amazing stunts, completely unrelated to his contractor ability, and I often find myself wondering how a normal person would learn how to swing from ropes, etc. the way he does. So I came up with this "child gymnast" idea and I think it makes some sense. Especially when I finally watched season 2 and saw him training Suou on doing the ten-minute handstands. Move evidence for my theory!


	8. Chapter 8: Regrets

**Title: **Instinct  
**Author: **setlib  
**Rating:** Mature.  
**Pairings:** Misaki x Hei  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to any characters from Darker than BLACK.  
**Timeline:** This scene starts right after episode 22, City Under Crackdown Moist with Tears, Part 2.

**Summary**: Hei is ordered to get information out of Misaki using any means necessary. Misaki begins to suspect that Lee might be the Black Reaper. Both decide to uncover the truth, using seduction as their method of interrogation. Can love grow among so many lies?

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**Instinct, Chapter Eight: Regrets**

Misaki woke abruptly when Hei yanked his arm out from under her head and leapt to his feet.

"What is it?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

In the gray pre-dawn light, she could see him at the window. He angled the blinds just a crack, enough to glance outside, then turned to her with an expression of rage on his face that she would never forget.

"Well played, Chief Kirihara," he growled. "I can't believe I actually fell for your act."

She got up quickly, wrapping a blanket around her as she stumbled toward the window. He ignored her, moving to the hallway to rip the air vent off the wall and pull several bulky packages out of the ducts. She nudged the blinds aside and gasped when she saw the cluster of police cars in the parking lot. Officers were already taking defensive positions, hiding behind car doors, wearing helmets and bulletproof vests with rifles aimed toward Hei's front door. A Special Assault Team van was pulling into the lot, being directed by none other than Saito.

"I swear, I didn't order this!" Misaki turned to find that he'd already pulled on his black clothes and was fastening his weapons harness around one thigh. "Saito was running a background check on Lee, he must have figured it out." She crossed the room as he slipped on his long coat and raised his mask. She reached for his arm, crying, "You have to believe me!"

"Stop lying!" he shouted, slamming her against the wall, his arm hard across her throat, electricity crackling from his fingertips just under her chin. "I might have fallen for it once, but I've learned my lesson. I'll never trust you again." He gave her a vicious shove that sent her flying across the room until she fell onto the futon with a gasp. By the time she looked up he had climbed through the kitchen window and was gone. Just like that.

What had she done? Last night had been the most fantastic evening of her life. Hei had shown her passion, and tenderness, and had revealed his deepest fears to her - and now he thought she'd planned the whole thing to seduce and capture him? She had lost Hei, and she was probably going to lose her job, too. How could things get any worse?

"BK-201! You're surrounded. Come out with your hands up. If you try to escape, we _will_ fire."

Well, she could get shot. That would be worse. Quickly Misaki tried to pull on her clothes, cursing when she realized the buttons had been ripped off her shirt, and she couldn't find her damned glasses. Suddenly there was a blast at the door and the assault team stormed in, shouting for her to get on the ground. For the second time in as many days, a gun was pressed roughly to the back of her head, shoving her face into the floor. As she heard the officers tromp through Lee's tiny apartment, Misaki made two vows to herself.

First, she would find Lee. Somehow, she would find him, and explain. She couldn't stand for him to go on thinking she had betrayed him.

And second - no more one-night stands. They just didn't turn out well.

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As angry as she was at Saito for initiating the assault without waiting for her orders, she was grateful to him, too. When Chief Horai called her into his office to grill her about why she was found in a state of undress in the apartment of the most wanted contractor in Japan, Saito defended her. He explained that she had initiated the investigation of BK-201's alias and had been just doing advance reconnaissance. She cut him off before he could try to insinuate that she'd been somehow kidnapped or held hostage, and thankfully Horai dismissed Saito before the lies had gotten too deep.

For some reason, the Chief seemed to think her work uncovering BK-201's identity meant she could be trusted with further disclosures. He sent her to PANDORA's headquarters, where Mr. Nishijima began to fill her in on the wealth of information they had about BK-201. Much of it she had heard from his own lips last night, but the fact that they had known these details all along and had never given her access to any of them to help her in her investigations was infuriating! Her mind was in such a whirl that she could barely grasp the significance of Dr. Schroeder's words:

"After a decade of continuous struggle, the battle between mankind and contractors all comes down to thirty minutes on the clock. Five hours and twenty-seven minutes until the defining moment of the century!"

Everyone seemed convinced that Hei would cause a repeat of Heaven's Gate here in Japan, wiping out hundreds of millions of people. After last night she just couldn't accept this idea. How could a man so pained over his past, so forlorn about his sister, so tender as a lover, do something so cruel? There had to be another explanation. And when Dr. Schroeder revealed that the purpose of the Saturn System was to wipe out all contractors, she was horrified.

"That's genocide! You can't do this. They may be changed but they're still people. You can't judge them all guilty and condemn them to death."

No one seemed to share her qualms, however, When Horai explained his plan to groom her for membership in The Syndicate, she wanted to throw his offer back in his face. But she bit her tongue, considering. If she was going to have any chance to stop their plan, to save the contractors, to save Hei, she had to stay there.

The final hours passed in a blur, until Misaki listened with horror as Dr. Schroeder counted down to firing the Saturn System and annihilating all contractors. But the blurry viewscreen showed no one standing at the center of the gate.

"There's no danger!" she cried. "He's clearly not going to cause an explosion. We have no reason to fire. He's not even in the sector. Stop the countdown!"

Suddenly Hei's blue light shone in the room, along her the lines of her body, through all of PANDORA. The cameras showed him using his powers to deactivate the gate particles, rendering the weapon useless. With a loud rumble the roof caved in, sending the researchers running in all directions. But in the chaos she was able to get Horai's confession on tape, admitting to his abuse of power. She was unprepared for his desperate attack and he was able to grab her throat in a meaty fist before she could stop him. Just when she thought she would pass out, the Black Reaper appeared from nowhere to save her. But after leaving Horai unconscious, he leapt away without even looking at her.

"Don't run!" she begged. "Lee, please!"

He turned slightly, his white mask concealing his expression. "The man you call Lee is gone," he growled. With a flash of his wire, he disappeared.

He hadn't forgiven her. Did he hate her now? Would she ever see him again? There were no guarantees, but she knew one thing: she wouldn't stop trying to find him. No matter how long it took, she would tell him how she really felt. Against all reason, against all logic, she had fallen in love with a contractor. From now on, her life would be tied to his - for better, or for worse.


	9. Chapter 9: Enemies

**Title: **Instinct  
**Author: **setlib  
**Rating:** Mature.  
**Pairings:** Misaki x Hei  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own the rights to any characters from Darker than BLACK.  
**Timeline:** This scene runs concurrently with Season 2, episode 10, Your Smile in the Street of Lies. If you haven't seen Season 2, this contains massive spoilers.

**Summary**: Hei is ordered to get information out of Misaki using any means necessary. Misaki begins to suspect that Lee might be the Black Reaper. Both decide to uncover the truth, using seduction as their method of interrogation. Can love grow among so many lies?

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**Instinct, Chapter Nine: Enemies**

Hei cut down a back alley on his way to the 18th Research Building. It was time to hunt down Izanami. To find her...and finally kill her, before she could join with Izanagi to destroy all the contractors on earth. It was his fault she had lived this long. His weakness, his hesitation to kill the body of Yin that Izanami now possessed. But now he was ready to rectify his mistake.

Suddenly his senses went on high alert. Someone else was in the alley. He knew who it was – he could smell her distinctive perfume, hear her breathing up on a fire escape stairwell behind him. He stopped.

"I'm sure that I had cut my ties with you," he said, almost politely.

"You've done your job well."

He turned his head to regard Madame Oreille out of the corner of his eye. He didn't want to continue this discussion. The woman was some kind of witch, her schemes and manipulations more dangerous than any contractor. Somehow she always knew where to find him, always knew exactly what to say to goad him into doing her bidding. And yet he couldn't leave without finding out why she wore such a smug smile. "What?"

"You brought her to Tokyo, didn't you? You let her go, though. A casing was found from the Oomiya incident. And an anti-tank rifle modified for left-handed use." She laughed then, but it wasn't a kind sound. "Poor little red star. I wonder how Section 3 is going to treat her?"

He flinched. Section 3 had captured Suou? _Damn it._ He shouldn't interfere. If he was smart, he'd finish off Yin right away and let Suou handle her own problems. But he couldn't escape a sense of responsibility – if it weren't for him, she wouldn't be here. He'd already lost everyone he had ever cared about. Could he just stand by while she was in danger?

"Since you know so much, why don't you tell me where she is?"

Madame Oreille smiled. Once again, she had him just where she wanted him.

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Hei took a moment to secure his wire, gauging the distance between the balcony where he was perched and the lobby of the apartment building to which he had been directed. Suddenly Suou and July ran out, then collapsed onto a planter box just outside. There were no police in sight – had the witch lied to him?

But then a woman ran out after them, brown hair hanging down her back in a long ponytail. He would recognize that plain brown trench coat and blue suit anywhere. His stomach clenched as he remembered the fury he had felt when she had betrayed him. Misaki was part of Section 3 now? Did her treachery know no limits? His hand dropped to the steel blade on his belt. He would show her what happened to people who tried to use him.

He swept down behind her, grabbing her by the neck and pressing his knife to her throat before she knew what was happening. But Suou distracted him, shouting for him to stop, and in that split second of hesitation Misaki slammed her elbow into his shoulder, rolling away and coming up with her gun drawn in one smooth movement.

"Why are you in Section 3?" he growled.

"Answer me first!" she panted. "Where's Youko?"

Her gun was pointed at his face, but he didn't care. He charged her, knocking the weapon from her hand and delivering a vicious blow to her upper spine. She lay on the ground below him, incapacitated, and he raised his blade to finish her off.

"No!" Suou cried, wrapping her arms around him.

"She tried to capture you," he bit out.

"She did! But she gave me steamed buns!"

How better to lure a child than with food? Just as she had lured him with her body. The woman's treachery astounded him. But he didn't want Suou to have to watch while he killed her. The girl had seen him commit enough violence already.

He sheathed his blade and turned his back, leaving Misaki twitching in the street while they walked away.

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Sleep eluded him that night, as it often did. Suou and July were curled up on mats on the floor of the small apartment while he sat on a couch, looking out the window at the gray clouds moving through the sickly brown sky, like rotten leaves in a muddy stream. It was never truly dark in the city, and he found himself missing the clear, cold skies of Russia. Even if the stars were false, he still wanted to see them, to see the hole where his own star had once shone so bright.

Mao climbed up on the windowsill next to him, speaking softly. "It's because Suou's incomplete that she fell in love with you."

Hei didn't reply. Damned interfering rodent. She was clearly desperate and confused if she clung to a cruel bastard like him. He should be disgusted by her weakness, but instead he found himself wanting to shield her innocence from the evils in the world a little bit longer. Of course there was a limit to how much he could protect her.

"Why did you really come back anyway?" Mao pressed further. "Is Suou too much like your sister now?"

"Perhaps I saw myself in Suou," Hei admitted. "Swayed by ignorance and swayed by our incompleteness. But," he paused, thinking of what he would have to do to Yin tomorrow, "neither Suou nor I have the time to be swayed."


End file.
